Wonder-verse
I wonder what will happen when web 3.0 takes over the digital universe? Will it catch dew drops of opportunity so that a good majority of users can earn an income on blockchain technologies from cryptocurrency, to tokens, to virtual engagement on the Metaverse? Or will the majority of users (whom I assume will also be mature/late adopters) be left feeling trapped in a web of their own making by resisting early adoption of the tech?
Connection
In his book The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin argues that we live in a world where people resist the reality of choice. There are two frameworks we can choose to live in: the industrial economy and the connection economy. The industrial economy is what led to mass production and major corporations pushing for more in a finite game. A finite game is a scenario where there is a perpetual imbalance; there are clear winners and losers. The goal of the finite game is to win and the common belief is that what you do only matters if you make more of what you’re “supposed to make”, money. Think of the perpetual hamster on a hamster wheel – being productive, a linear thinker, and unconnected to the work is what generates that turning wheel.
On the other hand, the connection economy can be summed up by people becoming artists, being the type of person who cares about what they do & how and who cares about their art connecting with the audience. Instead of a finite game, the connection economy plays the infinite game where the goal is to play as long as possible with the other players. There’s a spirit of “more for all, not just more for me”.
I would argue that web 2.0, the current way of using the internet is what promoted the connection economy and solidified the Information Age that we’re in. For context:
- Web 1.0 can be summed up as the first era of the Internet where websites were really static pages of information and users predominately just read the information
- Web 2.0 can be described as the time of social media where users could directly engage with content and content creators. The age of the influencers that picked up in the early 2010s promoted the use of multi-media content to engage with audiences from website posts (written words like blogs) to static images (think Tumblr and Pinterest) to videos (YouTube and now Tik Tok).
- Web 3.0 can be promoted as the age of digital ownership. What that entails I’m still not sure.
Spidey Sense and the New Web
I am learning about the vast number of projects that utilize web 3.0. It’s clear that no one knows for sure the value that it will create or the opportunities that will unfold. However, there are some players and organizations that are investing heavily in the space to build infrastructure, create assets, and educate those that are curious. I would consider myself to be in the third camp.
My spidey senses tingle at the thought of what new era we could be entering. Do I want a piece of the ever-growing pie? Heck, ya! Do I know what I’m doing? Heck, no! However, I have a hunch that the opportunities blockchain technologies offer will reward those curious enough to engage in the journey. Like in any precarious situation, I will be doing my research and taking calculated risks. I know that crypto projects fail all the time, but just seeing the communities that have formed and rallied behind various projects – I think web 3.0 will continue to promote the connection economy that web 2.0 initiated.
I think fulfillment, personal fulfillment in the work that I do, will continue to be associated with how much I push to expand my limits on what I thought possible. I remember coding in college and feeling a sense of overwhelm going into each project. I have to admit I heavily leaned on friends and tutors to get me through computer science classes and to this day, I still feel a bit of imposter syndrome thinking about the technical skills it seems everyone who talks about web 3.0 has. However, through the research I’ve been able to do so far, it seems that web 3.0 has opportunities for a range of people holding a range of skills – from lawyers to artists to marketers to strategic thinkers. In raising new projects, in establishing the foundation stone, in birthing a new world, it takes a labor of love from multiple sources.